specialized therapy to deepen your knowledge of your inner world
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy
in Tampa and throughout Florida
Are you overwhelmed by everything you feel inside?
Feel like you’ve tried other forms of talk therapy but it didn’t help in the way you wanted it to
Have a difficult time feeling connected to your sense of self
Want to find a way to feel less overwhelmed by your feelings and emotions
Think that there must be another way to be able to process past experiences
Feel pulled in many directions emotionally and are not sure what to do about it
Have big reactions to things in your life and aren’t sure why
Do you:
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy can help
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is a transformative approach that can help you gain a deeper understanding of yourself.
IFS is a compassionate approach to healing and self-discovery that views each person as made up of different parts. Just like a family is made up of individuals who have unique roles and personalities, our own inner world consists of various parts, each with its own emotions, beliefs, and motivations.
For example, imagine you are having an argument with your partner. During this, there is likely a part of you that is feeling angry. There might be another part that is feeling anxious about having a conflict. There is likely even another part that loves your partner and doesn’t want to see them get hurt. We can look at situations like this through the lens of IFS and be able to dig deep into our own internal experience and help this guide us to do what truly matters to us in life.
IFS uses a “bottom up” approach, which basically means we are getting out of our logical (or cognitive) brain and into our more emotional brain. We do this by allowing ourselves to truly be “in” our bodies (something you might not be used to and might even feel scary - but that is normal!) and understand our deep internal experiences. Many traditional talk therapies do their work from the more logical brain, and although you might experience some temporary relief from that work, Clients often tell me that it is short-lived and is not a long term solution to the struggles that they are experiencing.
The best part about IFS? Once you learn how to connect with and develop a relationship with your own parts, this is work that you can absolutely continue to do on your own. Is it helpful to work with an IFS therapist to help with this? Of course. BUT - it is a breath of fresh air to find a way of understanding your unique experiences that you can practice and do both in and out of sessions. We don’t need to work with every part together - we need to help you see what it feels like to be in relationship with parts so that you can continue to do this with whatever parts are present for you at any given time.
IFS therapy can help you
Be more curious about how parts came to be and why they feel the need to do what they are doing
Feel more connected to yourself and your ability to handle situations in healthier and more effective ways
More deeply connect with yourself
Come to understand how your different parts have helped you to cope in difficult situations
Heal from painful past experiences
Increase your ability to handle difficult/stressful situations
Grow more confident
Want to learn more about how IFS works for body image and food? Read the full breakdown here
In IFS, we have “no bad parts.” This means that although parts may feel destructive, critical, loud, etc - they all actually have positive intent for us. Our parts often work overtime to protect us from getting hurt, even if they do that in a way that doesn’t quite seem to be in our best interest.
what sessions look like with an IFS therapist
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In our sessions together, we will work on first getting curious and turning inward - meaning starting to pay attention to the parts of us that become activated in different situations. There is no pressure here - this process is extremely gentle and non judgmental. As an IFS therapist I can help guide you to start to experience your parts by paying attention to thoughts, feelings, and sensations in your body. Once you start to practice this, it can become very intuitive to quickly pick up on what you are experiencing and what parts are present.
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One we are able to notice parts and start to pay attention - we can ask them about their role in your system. We don’t need to guess or try to figure it out on our own! We can ask these parts directly and can gain the information we need to feel compassion towards them. This can not only help alleviate the symptoms that we are experiencing, but can potentially lead to deeper healing.
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Once we start to gain more understanding about our parts and the jobs that they have, we might determine that those parts want to take on new roles that feel more helpful/aligned. Together, we can help parts let go of the burdens they are carrying around, they can feel free to take on new roles and we can move forward together.
Ultimately, what matters most is this:
In Internal Family Systems Therapy, ALL parts are welcome
Is IFS right for you?
IFS Therapy can help you process…
Trauma
Anxieties
Emotional experiences
Negative Thoughts
Grief and loss
Feelings that you don’t quite understand (or have the words for)
Body image and food concerns
Relationship difficulties
Feelings of “stuckness”
What we’ll work on
With Internal Family Systems Therapy, you can…
Start to truly understanding the way your internal world functions, and know what to do when things are feeling big or overwhelming. It can help you connect with what truly matters to you in life, and feel confident that you can navigate whatever life throws your way.
Here, you can find deeper healing.
- Keri Baker, LCSW, Brainspotting & IFS Therapist and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor
Questions?
FAQs
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Anyone! IFS does not need to be targeted at any kind of specific symptom or diagnosis. If you want to find a way to be more in touch with your internal world, taking a parts approach can be helpful. We also don’t have to do parts work in a way that doesn’t resonate for you. Our goal together will be seeing what is most helpful, what language makes the most sense to you, and what you need to be able to gain a deeper understanding of your own needs.
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There is not one set amount of sessions to feel like IFS is “working.” This is dependent on so many factors such as your sense of understanding about your own emotions and experiences, and your past history. When we have our intake together we will determine the frequency of sessions - I typically recommend we start with weekly sessions to get to know each other and what you want to work on, and take it from there.
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Absolutely! I do not think that there is only one type of modality that resonates for everyone. I love integrating other modalities into our work together, especially if you find them to be helpful. Some of the other modalities I use are Brainspotting, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivational Interviewing, and Intuitive Eating.